Wall board construction



ezzn Feb. 10, 1959 Filed Sept. 1'7, 1956 J. H. BROWN ET AL WALL BOARD CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Jbbn H. Bro wn Charles I Johnson Feb. 10, 195 .1. H. BROWN ETAL WALL BOARD 1 CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 17, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 kiv / WMMA/ 10, 1959 J. H. BROWN- ETAL WALL BOARD CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 17, 1956 IN VIZ 5V TOR.

. Brown Feb. 0, 1 J. H. BROWN ETAL WALL BOARD consmucnon 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Seiat. .17, 1956 INVENTOR.

H. Brown har/es I Johnsqn Ja/m United States atent WALL BOARD CONSTRUCTION John H. Brown and Charles J. Johnson, Lewiston, Idaho, assignors to Potlatch Forests Inc., Lewiston, Idaho, a corporation of Maine Application September 17, 1956, Serial No. 610,121

8 Claims. (Cl. 20 15) Our invention relates to improvements in a wall panel construction. It is the principal. purpose of our invention to provide a wall panel construction utilizing lumber of random width and length to form a panel of standard dimensions with backing members that secure the panel lumber pieces in place and provide a novel simple means for interlocking adjacent panels and securing them to studding, etc. to form a wall.

According to our invention the panel is made from end matched and side matched lumber of suitable thickness to produce a unit which would cover a standard wall size, such for example, as a space 32 inches by 96 inches. The pieces of lumber may be of different widths, and in each length of lumber extending from one end of the panel to the other there may be more than one end joint so that short lengths of lumber are utilized that would otherwise be wastened. In end matching the lumber the matching is done with a tongue and groove of any standard shape, preferably with a slight V-groove pattern cut into the surface at the ends of adjacent boards. The side matching may be any standard overlapping joint such as tongue and groove, shiplap, etc.

. The surface pattern at the edge may be any desirable to the support.

It is a further purpose of the invention to provide in a wall panel construction of the type above referred to wherein the backing members are glued to the surface forming pieces, with means to prevent the glue from building up at the edges of the panels and preventing adjacent panels from coming together tightly.

The nature and advantages of our invention will be more apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred form of the invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a wall corner illustrating how panels constructed in accordance with our invention are mounted against studding to produce upright walls;

Figure 2 is a rear face view of a panel showing how it is fitted to adjacent panels;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the meeting joint of two panels; 1

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view looking at the opposite side of the panel from Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged view looking up at the lower edge of the panel shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a rear face view similar to Figure 2, but showing a modified construction; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 8--8 of Figure 7.

As illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings, our wall panel construction can be laid up against studding or other supported backing and provides a means for nailing the panels to the supporting structure in a very simple manner. The advantages of the structure will be better understood by first describing the detailed construction of a panel as it is shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive. Each panel is made up of a plurality of pieces of lumber such as the pieces 10 and 11 making up one vertical section of the panel, other pieces 12 and 13 making up another section of the panel, and in some instances full length pieces 14.

The several boards are matched at the ends where they abut each other by a tongue and groove joint which is indicated at 15 in Figure 3. Likewise the side edges of the lumber pieces are joined together by a tongue and groove joint which is llustrated at 16 in Figures 4 and 6. In order to bind the several lumber pieces together into a panel and to provide the panel mounting means, we utilize a plurality of backing members 17, which as illustrated in Figure 2, are alike. These backing members are simply pieces of lumber of a desiredthickness which have diagonally opposite corners notched out as indicated at 18 and 19 so as to produce a protruding narrow piece 20 at one end and an ofliset piece 21 at the other end. The notch is slightly deeper than onehalf the width of the piece so that when two like backing members are interlocked as shown in Figure 2, they do not wedge against each other edgewise. These backing members 17 are of such a length that when the completed panel is formed slightly less than one-half of the narrowed portions 20,and 21 project beyond the side edges of the adjacent lumber pieces such as those indicated at 22 and 23 in Figure 2. The surfaces of the extensions 20 and 21 that extend beyond the edges of the pieces 22 and 23 are bevelled on the panel side as indicated at 24 in the drawings. This bevel is to enable the extensions 20 and 21 to slide beneath the adjacent panel readily.

In gluing up the panels any suitable type of adhesive may be used but with all such adhesives when the backing members 17 are pressed against lumber pieces there is a tendency for the adhesive in some cases to squeeze out along the edges. If this happens at the edges where two panels are to be abutted, the bead of adhesive which is squeezed out interferes with tightly fitting the panels together. In order to overcome this difliculty we provide the extensions 20 and 21 with shallow grooves 25 closely adjacent to the outer edges of the lumber pieces 22 and 23. These grooves 5 receive the squeezed out adhesive and prevent it from building up where it would interfere with putting two panels together tightly.

The backing members 17 can be applied as frequently as desired for the length of the panel. It is not necessary that the backing members cover the end matched joints between the lumber pieces because these joints, being tongue and groove as shown, will maintain the two lumber pieces in alignment, particularly when the adjacent lumber pieces are held rigidly in place and overlapped by tongue and groove or otherwise with the two end matched pieces.

P gether.

other.

aster/12 In manufacturing the lumber pieces such as 19 to 14 and 22 to 23, the pieces are sawed to the proper thickness and have their surfaces finished on both sides. They are carefully and uniformly kiln dried and then assembled with the .backing members 17 and permanently secured by suitable adhesive and pressing the pieces to- The backing members 17 are so positioned that when the edges of two panels are brought together, the

- extensions 20 and 21 will fit neatly in behind the facing pieces of the adjacent panels and will lie one above the Ihisarrangernent of the backing members with the facing pieces provides top and bottom edge support for each panel, since the top and bottom members 17 of each panel can be placed so that their side edges are flush with the end edge of the panel made up of the ends of the facing pieces as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4.

The form of the invention illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 is slightly modified in that the panels here use plain rectangular backing members 17a instead of the notched edges of the panel both fully backed up by backing members. As illustrated in Figure 8, the end portions of the backing members 17a are bevelled on the panel side as indicated at 24a. The construction of the panels inithe modification is otherwise the same as in the preferred, form of the invention.

In assembling a wall such as is illustrated in Figure l, the first step is that in starting in any corner of the room the extensions such as 20 and 21 on the corner side edge of the panel will be cut off so that the two panels can be abutted as illustrated at 28 in Figure l, in the corner provided by the studding pieces 29, 30 and 31.

The panels have parallel sides and parallel tops and bottoms so that if the corner is true the piece will fit easily. If on the other hand there is some slight discrepancy in the corner so that it is not perpendicular to the floor, the adjacent panel edges can be cut until the panels rest smoothly on the floor. One of the panels in the corner will require face nailing to the studding in order to secure thetwo panels against removal.

With a standard studding spacing of '16 inch center to center, the extension such as 20 at the other side edge of the panel on the edge placed in the corner will be in such a position that it can be readily nailed to the ad jacent stud. If desired, face nailing may be applied to the intermediate stud 29 in order to secure the panel in place. The next panel assembly shown at the left in Figure 1, has its extension 21 properly positioned to overlie the extension 26) of the first panel already put in place so thatthis second panel can be readily slid into place next to the first panel. No further nails are required where the two panels abut since the extensions 21 are fitted tightly into the slot behind the first applied panel. The exposed extensions 20 of the second panel are then nailed to the studding in the same fashion as was done with the first panel. The panels are thus laid to complete a wall. It may be necessary to rip the last panel to the proper width if the wall is not an exact multiple of the panel width.

Cut outs can be made from this panel for windows, doors and other openings in the same manner as they can be made with plywood since the several lumber pieces are well glued together and will remain in place upon removal of a cut out section. The end matched joints in particular are preferably either glued or secured by pressure sensitive tape so that the two pieces abutting each other will not pull apart.

With our improved wall panel construction it is possible to take advantage of smallpieces of lumber in creating the panels and the pieces can be quite thin, for example inch thickness has been found ample for use in 8 foot long panels. The backing members serve as furring strips when the panel is applied to a wall. They also serve to provide the necessary strength in the panel to give it much greater rigidity than could be had with a single sheet of the same thickness.

It is believed that the nature and advantages of our invention will be apparent from the foregoing description.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A wall panel construction comprising a plurality of lumber pieces of random length and width laid together to form a rectangular panel, the meeting sides of said pieces being matched and overlapped and the meeting ends of said pieces being matched and interlocked, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the first named pieces and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, the end portions being bevelled on one side face, each of said first named pieces being secured by adhesive to each of the backing members that crosses it, said backing members each having transverse grooves therein beneath the free edges of the outer first named pieces of the panel.

2. A wall panel construction comprising a plurality of lumber pieces of random length and width laid together to form a rectangular panel, the meeting sides of said pieces being matched and overlapped and the meeting ends of said pieces being matched and interlocked, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the first named pieces and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, one of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at one end of the panel, another of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at theother end of the panel each of said last named backing members having one of its end portions offset lengthwise of the panel with respect to theother of its end-portions, each of said first named pieces being secured by adhesive to each of the backing members that crosses it.

3. A wall panel construction comprising a plurality of lumber pieces of random length and width laid together to form a rectangular panel, the meeting sides of said pieces being matched and overlapped and the meeting ends ofsaid pieces being matched and interlocked, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the first named pieces and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, the backing members being glued to each of the first named pieces that crosses it, the end portions having tapered tips for insertion beneath an already secured panel, the said backing members being notched in their diagonally opposite corners to reduce the width of their end portions whereby the end portions will pass each other when two panels are abutted side edge to side edge.

4. A wall panel construction comprising a plurality of lumber pieces of random length and width laid together'to form a rectangular panel, the meeting sides of said pieces being matched and overlapped and the meeting ends of said pieces being matched and interlocked, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the first named pieces and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, each backing member being glued to each of the first named piecesthat crosses it, the end portions having tapered tips for insertion beneath an already secured panel, one of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at one end of the panel, another of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at the other end of the panel, said backing members having the projecting end portions thereof at one side edge of the panel offset lengthwise of the panel with respect to the projecting end portions thereof at the other side edge of the panel whereby the projecting end portions of one panel will pass the end portions of an adjacent panel when two like panels are assembled edge to edge, and all of the said end portions having grooves therein beneath the outer edges of the panel.

5. A wall panel construction comprising a plurality of lumber pieces of random length and width laid together to form a rectangular panel, the meeting sides of said pieces being matched and overlapped and the meeting ends of said pieces being matched and interlocked, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the first named pieces and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, each backing member being glued to each of the first named pieces that crosses it, one of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at one end of the panel, another of said backing members having a side edge flush with the end edges of said first named lumber pieces at the other end of the panel, the end portions of said backing members being notched in their diagonally opposite corners to reduce the width of their end portions so that the reduced end portions projecting from two like panels assembled side by side will pass each other.

6. A wall panel construction comprising a rectangular panel, a plurality of backing members glued to and extending across one face of said panel and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panel and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, said end portions having grooves in their panel engaging faces extending across them beneath both side edges of the panel, the end portions being tapered in thickness toward their tip ends for insertion beneath an already secured panel, one of said backing members having a side edge flush with one end edge of said panel, another of said backing members having a side edge flush with the other end edge of the panel, the backing members being notched in their diagonally opposite corners to reduce the width of their end portions so that the reduced end portions projecting from the abutted edges of two like panels assembled side by side will be spaced from each other.

7. A wall construction comprising a rectangular panel, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the rectangular panel and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, each of said backing members being secured by adhesive to the panel and said backing members each having transverse grooves therein beneath the side edges of said panel.

8. A wall construction comprising a rectangular panel, a plurality of backing members comprising spaced apart lumber pieces extending transversely of the rectangular panel and having end portions projecting beyond the side edges of the panels and serving as nailing and interfitting pieces between adjacent panels in a wall, each of said backing members being secured by adhesive to the panel, one of said backing members having a side edge flush with one end edge of the rectangular panel, another of said backing members having a side edge flush with the other end edge of the panel, the end portions of the two last named backing members being notched in their diagonally opposite corners reducing the width of the end portions so that the reduced end portions projecting from two like panels assembled side by side will pass each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,407,679 Ruthrauff Feb. 21, 1922 1,734,826 Pick Nov. 5, 1929 1,866,527 Dinkins July 12, 1932 2,381,469 Sweet Aug. 7, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,084,975 France July 21, 1954 149,468 Australia Dec. 18, 1952 

